


Familiarity

by unwindmyself



Series: curious shapes shift in the dark [77]
Category: True Blood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Banter, Domestic Fluff, Exposition, F/F, Female Friendship, Fix-It, Gen, Interlude, Multi, Vampire Family, agency and choices!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-21
Updated: 2015-03-21
Packaged: 2018-03-18 21:11:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3584115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unwindmyself/pseuds/unwindmyself
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The night wanes, the vampires settle, Sookie brings news.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Familiarity

**Author's Note:**

> Part five, "Watch the Moon Disappear."

One hour and forty-three minutes after Tara texts Sookie their new address, there’s a knock on the front door and Pam raises an eyebrow.

“I didn’t tell her to come on over,” Tara shrugs. 

“And yet,” Pam rolls her eyes.

“You don’t even know it’s her,” Jessica chimes in from the parlor adjoining the dining room.  Her head is resting in Nora’s lap and her feet, bare of their overly-dressy pumps, are propped up on the opposite arm of the sofa; Nora is reading the least-religious Aramaic text they found in the library out loud, pausing to let Jessica repeat passages clumsily and also as now to let her interrupt the conversation in the dining room. 

“So if it’s not her it’s one of our other vague friends, and the same premise applies,” Pam says.

“Is anyone going to get the door?” Willa asks, but Eric is already up and doing.

“Miss Stackhouse,” he says fondly.

“Told you,” Pam mutters.

“What brings you here this evening?” Eric asks.

“It’s nothin’ serious,” Sookie says.  “I mean, Jason’s… he’s the same, but… can I talk to all y’all?”

Willa bounds up, all smiles.  “Wanna tour?” she asks.

Sookie attempts a smile.  “Maybe in a little?”

“Yeah, okay,” Willa says, trying not to sound disappointed. 

“ _Dotter_ , gather the others,” Eric instructs.  “In the parlor, I think.”

This just means dragging Pam and Tara away from the letter-writing enterprise they have set up in the dining room, but that’s made enough of a mess that it’s going to be easier to perch on the traditionally designed but burgundy leather couches that Nora and Jessica have currently taken up.  Willa flashes another smile, then skips off to do that.

“Your brother’s condition stays the same?” Eric more-or-less repeats.

“They’re sayin’ the swelling is gone down enough they oughta be able to bring him outta the coma soon,” Sookie says. 

“Have you given more thought to my sister’s proposal?” Eric asks.  He doesn’t need to clarify which one.

“I wasn’t gonna give it more thought in the first place,” Sookie grumbles.  “I’m not letting it happen.  Period.  End of fuckin’ story.”

Eric holds up his hands defensively, though he’s smiling.  “I just thought I would check,” he says.

“Seriously, can we just get on with it?” Sookie asks snappishly.  “Some of us gotta get to bed before dawn ‘cause we’ve got real daylight jobs.”

Eric nods and ushers her toward the parlor, where the other women are all gathered.  Willa’s on her second wind of the evening, bouncing and smiling and doing pretty much everything but sitting still in one of the armchairs, Pam and Tara are pressed together at the end of the second couch with matching bored expressions, and Nora and Jessica haven’t bothered to move except to put the book down, which means that Eric has to lift up Jessica’s feet and place them in his lap to sit down himself.  It’s an incongruously casual, intimate pose for them to have assumed given the 1950s-good girl way Nora and Jessica are dressed, and it makes Sookie almost smile.  Almost.

“What’s going on?” Nora asks.

“Is Jason okay?” Jessica adds.

“Jason’s fine,” Sookie promises, sitting in the other armchair and reaching into her purse as she does.  “Jason’s gettin’ a lot better.  I wanted to let you guys know that, and let you guys know I’m gettin’ back to work tomorrow.  Sam’s been sweet, lettin’ me take the time –”

“Sam’s always let you take the time,” Tara points out, though fondly.

And Sookie shrugs and nods an acknowledgment before continuing.  “But there ain’t much I can do just sittin’ around watchin’ Jason breathe all day,” she says, “so it’ll be good havin’ stuff to do.”

“That makes sense, yes,” Nora agrees, in her way like she’s trying her hardest to make normal conversation.

“Less so that you had to drive over here just to let us know,” Pam points out.

“Well, that brings me to point number two, I guess,” Sookie says, unfolding the piece of paper in her hand.  “I gotta letter from Alcide the other day.”

“Alcide’s…?” Willa mouths at her aunt.

“Werewolf,” Nora mouths back.  “Attempted paramour.”

Willa nods in understanding.  She’s heard stories, vaguely.

“Pen and paper, that’s fancy,” Pam drawls.  “Old-fashioned.”

“It may’ve taken longer to send, but I check my mailbox more than my email,” Sookie shrugs.  “It was practical.”

“Is he in some scrape he needs help getting out of?” Eric asks wryly.

“Actually, kinda the opposite,” she says.  “So y’all knew he split from the wolf pack an’ took off.”  She waits for their nods to continue.  “Well, he got on a plane to France without a plan, I guess, he says he was sorta wanting to follow his family tree or somethin’ even though his people’ve been over here for ages, an’ of course it was only a couple days before other wolves found him.”

“They do have that way of sniffin’ things out,” Pam interrupts with a smirk.

Sookie just rolls her eyes.  “Anyway,” she groans.  “He says they’re cooler an’ more casual than the pack he was runnin’ with down here, so nobody’s pushin’ him to do anything, and – ”

“Lemme guess,” Pam drawls.  “He met a pretty lady wolf that he wants to have his puppies?”

“First part, anyway,” Sookie says.  “Her name’s Tién and she manages a bookstore, I guess?  They’ve only gone out once so far, but he likes her, so that’s…”  She trails off, shrugs.  “That’s nice.”

“Do I detect a hint of discomfort?” Eric asks wryly.

“No,” Sookie retorts. “Not all of us get tetchy about our… whatever’s relationships.”

“You and him dated?” Willa asks.

“Not exactly,” Sookie says. “It’s kinda complicated. Maybe another time and place, or somethin’. It just wasn’t gonna happen in this life.”

“I’m happy for him,” Jessica chimes in, turning her head so she can actually look at Sookie instead of just up at Nora’s tits.

“Yeah, I am too,” Sookie says. “It’s nice seein’ things all… normal.” She looks over the group, pulls a slight face. “Or whatever counts for that anymore.”


End file.
